Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General

As noted in the media this week and as blogged by Gluten-Free NYC, "Dr. Sanjay Gupta is Barack Obama's top pick for Surgeon General." As Gluten-Free NYC rightly reported, Dr. Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, is a colleague of Heidi Collins, CNN news anchorwoman and the spokeswoman for the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness. This "six-degrees-of-separation" (well, two) between Heidi and Dr. Gupta is promising. At least Dr. Gupta knows of Celiac Disease, probably more than most politicians and political correspondents.

After a little investigative reporting of my own, I discovered Dr. Sanjay Gupta participated in the Atlanta NFCA Cooking Spree in October 2007. Bringing Dr. Gupta on as Surgeon General could be a great thing for the Celiac Disease community. "The Surgeon General serves as America's chief health educator by providing Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury." (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/) The Obama administration with Dr. Gupta in that key medical role might just bring the awareness we need about the prevalence of Celiac Disease in this country and hopefully help us gain support from the US Government.